Our findings highlighted: (i) a critical time-dependent effect on lesion development of uninterrupted periods of exposure to 100% RH during these earliest infection stages (ii) a marked interindividual variation in the sensitivity to RH conditions both in terms of strain average moisture response and plasticity (iii) a higher tolerance – expressed at 14 dpi, not later – of the Israeli population to early interruption of optimal moisture conditions.

Individual- and population-level moisture reaction norms expressing how the sporulating area of a lesion change with the RH conditions were established based on visual assessments of lesion development at 14, 17 and 20 days post-inoculation (dpi). tritici strains collected in two climatologically distinct locations (Ireland and Israel) to four high moisture regimes differing in the timing and the duration of uninterrupted exposure to saturated relative humidity (100% RH) during the first three days of infection. We assessed the responses in planta of 48 Z. We examined the impact of altering optimal moisture conditions conducive to infection on the wheat- Zymoseptoria tritici interaction. Foliar plant pathogens require liquid or vapour water for at least part of their development, but their response and their adaptive tolerance to moisture conditions have been much less studied than other meteorological factors to date.

Mk dpi shift exchange